Streak Ends At 25

Nash Central has put and end to the third longest active losing streak in North Carolina High School football beating Smithfield Selma 36-21.  It took two games into the 2015 season for new coach Chris Lee to end the streak which has been going on since the ninth game of the 2012 season.

Just how good was the beating Rocky Mount laid on South Granville last week was answered tonight in Apex when the Gryphons took on the Mustangs of Middle Creek.  Middle Creek is expected to go deep in the 4-A playoffs .  What the Mustangs got was a hand full of Gryphons.

Middle Creek struck first late in the first quarter moving the ball down field with the pass to take a 7-0 lead.  The Gryphons defense held the Mustangs in check and a long pass under two minutes in the half set up the Gryphons Sherrod Green for a two yard dive to tie the score at 7.  MC with .18 seconds in the half threw a pass dropped by the receiver.  Rocky Mount scooped up the ball and ran 40 yards with the Middle Creek crowd in a uproar To take a 14-7 half time lead.

Motivated Middle Creek roared out of the locker room and almost ran the kickoff back but three plays tied the game at 14.  Late in the third Sherrod Green from three yards out gave the Gryphons the lead again 21-14.

Early fourth quarter MC returns a punt fifty yards to tie the game at 21.  Rocky Mount went to the air and two ints set up the Mustangs to kick a field goal with 3:30 to play.  That would be  enough.  The Gryphons give great effort but too many penalties especially a penalty after a first down killed a Gryphon drive.  Gryphons fine respect in Apex but lose 24-21 to Middle Creek.
Other scores:

Southern Nash 23 Beddingfield 14
Tarboro 26 Washington 7
SouthWest Edgecombe 35 North Edgecombe 14
Hunt 17 Hertford County 12
East Wake 40 Fike 27
Northeastern 53 Northern Nash 13
RMA 53 Lawrence Academy 25

What Impact's Teams The Most?

High schools, Colleges and Pro football teams  are all optimistic that they have the team formed that will make great strides this year. High school coaches have to depend on the youngsters from his school district to teach them up to make a good team.

College coaches recruit players going after players that can fill holes in their team but they compete with other coaches after the same players to do the same for their team.  The pros  draft players available at the time that it is their turn to draft and they fill what they considered needs to improve their team.

All a coach can do is try to train their players to the very best they can as they practice offensive plays, how to run the plays that take advantage of what the defense presents.  Defenses practice when a team lines up this is what  they will probably do and here is what we will do to stop it.

All this preparation one injury can ruin any teams plans.  The backup player may not be quite as good as the player injured and coaches have to adjust to run plays that suit that player in order for him to perform at his best ability.  Some times that puts a team into never reaching their best potential because they simply are not as good as they could be with a healthy team.

This year ECU is trying to replace a quarterback that if you look at Pirates history  is the most prolific quarterback in Pirates history.  The chosen one this week picked as the heir to the starting quarterback job tore his ACL and is out for the year.  Every day you read a player is lost for the year for what ever reason but every team must adjust and move forward with the players they have left.

Every now and then a you hear the story of a player who got a chance and he becomes great as the replacement for the person injured.  Most of the time that doesn't happen.  Teams struggle as the replacement player learns how to play at the the level needed for his team to be successful and sometimes they just are not strong enough to be successful.

We all at some point in time and looked when the season is over and said.  What would have happened if that injury didn't happen?  So the next time you yell at the coach and holler "you bum you can't coach a lick", remember all that coaching can go down the drain when part of the the best part of your team is standing on the sideline with the coach in a cast.